


FSZAU (Fallen Star!Ze AU)

by Raakxhyr



Category: The Derp Crew (Youtube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 06:50:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7608043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raakxhyr/pseuds/Raakxhyr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ze is a fallen star from the constellation of Aries. He gets pushed to Earth and is taken care of by the Derp Crew, taught how to live as a human while he continuously tries to find a way to get back home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy the AU :)

Steven looked down at the planet known as "Earth" and tilted his head in curiosity. He looked back to see everyone minding their own business before he removed himself from the pull and drifted out towards the moving orb. He dared not get too close or face the consequences of being dragged into its gravitational pull, not that he wasn't aware of the danger that lurked nearby. 

Giants were close, and they were ready to fight. 

Well, more so push Steven around, but he'd been keeping out of their way long enough. In fact today marked the millionth day he'd been able to avoid them. Maybe it was cause for celebration. 

Never mind that, he was too curious for his own good. He wanted to know. He wanted to learn. What was "Earth"? 

He hovered silently, staring in awe at the way the light of what their species called the "sun" reflected off its oceans, almost able to make out the strange yellow in the sky. Why they named his friend "Sun" was unbeknownst to him, but Sun seemed to love the attention, and Steven didn't bother. 

As the blue orb moved around Sun, herds of clouds washed over and contorted into more inorganic complexities- he did wonder what they felt like. Could you rest in these ones, maybe? Compared to other planets he had seen, this one seemed friendly. The reds and greens and browns of what looked like land spiked his curiosity more. How such a color was attained; he'd never understand. And the icy caps both north and south on the living orb- they were shrinking, and he became sad. What could possibly cause such beautiful features to dissipate, he wondered. Maybe it was what are called "humans" that caused this reaction? 

Humans. 

He was curious about them, too. He had never met one, nor seen one. He'd only heard stories, and they were all terrible tales. Some seemed worth the wonder, but those were rare. Maybe he'd meet one someday? 

His eyes flitted back to the ball and he inched closer and closer until he could feel himself drifting towards it without having moved himself. And soon it was washed in darkness. But little lights dotted the land, and he giggled. Were they like him? Maybe the land was fluffy and soft and shaped in curls as well! Maybe those lights were like the dust in his hair! 

He grunted when a hand pushed him and he turned to see the blinding red dots grinning smugly at him. _Well,_ he thought to himself, _I suppose I get to find out the texture of this Earth. C'est la vie._ __


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My friend wrote this one. It was originally a co-op but they dropped out and only wrote this one chapter.

April 12th.

 

It was supposedly the day for one of the greatest meteor showers in history. And Smarty, being the space nerd he was, made his friends - all of whom were also known as the Derp Crew - come watch it with him.

 

There were so many comets flying past their heads they lost count of them. After about ten minutes of watching, one peculiar meteor seemed to be getting closer to Earth, not just flying past it.

 

They all watched it closely, curious of what was happening. The star was falling at an alarming rate which made Chilled teasingly say,“Maybe it’s the end of the world; we’re all gonna go extinct like the dinosaurs.”

He laughed at his own joke, but was cut off by the boom of the star finally hitting the ground.

 

Sparks and dirt flew in the air around where the meteor hit as a bright light blinded everything within a mile.

Luckily, the comet landed at a safe distance away from their home, but close to enough to walk there by foot.

 

“What the hell was that?!” Tom screeched.

“I don’t know, so let’s go see what that was!”

“Are you fucking insane?! We have no idea what that is; it could be dangerous for all we know!” Galm shouted at Smarty.

Chilled added,“Well that just makes things more fun!“

Galm scowled while Tom hesitantly agreed with Chilled. Seeing everyone’s willingness to investigate the mystery comet, Galm finally decided to go with them.

 

 

The walk there took about fifteen minutes, filled with Galm’s distasteful comments about how stupid they were for being so careless. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

Tom smirked. “But satisfaction brought it back!”

 

Finally reaching the forest where the meteor hit, Chilled dashed through the trees to find whatever that thing was. As he jumped over roots and ducked under branches, he hoped no one got to it first.

He eventually slowed down to a jog when he saw a huge hole a few yards away.

When he got to it, Chilled looked inside only to find a naked young man lying unconscious in the middle of the hole. Shreds of what used to be clothes still clung hopelessly to his body, fluttering off to land on the dirt below.

 

Still paralyzed with shock, there was only one thing Chilled managed to say.

 

“What the fuck?!”


	3. Chapter 3

Chilled stared at the naked man, wondering how he wasn’t burnt in the least while charred bits of clothing were visibly scattered in the surrounding dirt. He was mesmerized, almost, watching an almost faint glow radiate off of him as he inched closer and closer to examine him, not realizing his feet had brought him right next to the unconscious –he assumed- form, kneeling on the ash covered soil. Long fingers reached towards the man until shouts were processed in Chilled’s head and he turned, looking at his silent-shocked friends.

 

“What…is that?” Tom asked, pointing at the nude figure on the ground.

“Well, it’s a guy, obviously,” Smarty retorted, keeping a good distance away.

“Chilled,” GaLm warned. “Don’t touch it!” He was fearful; the possibilities of anything happening –the unknown happening frightened him. For all they knew, the stranger could shoot up onto his feet and kill them.

 

“Why not?” He’s hurt and unconscious.” Chilled frowned and looked back, his fingers twitching to help. “I’m bringing him home.”

“ _What?_ ” GaLm whined. “Chilled, don’t do it!”

 

The Italian ignored his friends’ complaints and slipped his arms beneath the man’s knees and back, lifting him with ease up against his chest. He noticed how warm he was despite the chilling air around them, soft skin resting on his fingers. He stared at him, eyes roaming over faint whites on his body, chuckling at the thought that he had dandruff or white paper ash on him.

 

For the most part, the trek home was short and the others followed Chilled without retaliation, though they verbally swore at him and questioned his choice. Chilled rolled his eyes and gently placed him inside the tub, positioning him so that he wouldn’t slip and fall before realizing there was no way it would work properly and he’d have to get in with him. His cheeks dusted red, turning on the faucet gently and washing all the dirt and char off his body, noticing faint sparkles flow into the drain. The Italian simply shrugged it off and hoisted the man up, getting the others to help place a towel around him before Chilled once again carried the stranger bridal style to his room on the first floor at the end of the hall.

“Are you sure you wanna keep him here?” GaLm questioned, watching Chilled lower the form to the bed and look up at him with a nod in response.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m gonna wait till he wakes up. He fell kinda…he…” Chilled trailed off, realizing he wasn’t sure where he came from but just assumed he had fallen into the pit. “I’m just gonna stay here.”

 

“Then we’re all staying,” Tom declared, finding himself a comfortable spot on the floor and pulling his phone out to waste time. Smarty followed suit, but instead sat with GaLm on one end of the room to irk him with puns. Chilled sighed, not saying anything to them as he kept his attention on the man beside him and found his eyes trailing his body, smiling at the not-so-flat belly and scruffy beard that covered his baby face. He ran his fingers gently through the curls of brown hair and inspected the white specks with interest, his fingers following them all the way down to his cheek and his neck, some scattered on his shoulder before his fingers had reached the hem of the towel on his waist and he paused, retracting his hand.

He was still staring at him, up close to his face as he examined the long lashes and faint red nose that dipped down to almost a point when he caught the movement of his eye and the small twitch of his body. The Italian paused, catching his small groan, waiting for the flutter of his eyes and that’s when he started swimming in an ocean of green.

Chilled grinned and slowly lifted his hand to introduce himself when a sudden burst of fire consumed his bed and he screamed, the others jumping to their feet, someone running out of the room, the door swinging and slamming the wall. Panicked shouts filled the room until foam spread out and consumed the fire, charred bedsheets and a broken bed sitting against a black wall.

 

“My bed,” Chilled whined, his attention now returning in confused anger at the man. “What the hell was that?!”

“W-what?” the stranger asked in worry and fright, green eyes dark and almost pale, body curled, knees to his chest as a faint red glow filled the room. Chilled hadn’t realized the fire alarm had gone off until Tom ran back in the room and silence filled the air.

“Who are you?” Chilled inquired, reaching towards him again, frowning when he watched him curl into himself and press further against the burnt back of the bed.

“W-where am I? Who are _you_ and what’s going on?”

“I should be the one asking those questions,” Chilled mumbled. “Look, buddy, you’re on Earth,” he answered rhetorically with a roll of his eyes, about to continue when the other sat up and eyes widened.

“Did you say I have landed on _Earth?_ ”

“Wait say that again?” Chilled asked with a small giggle.

“I said did you say that I have landed on Earth?” the stranger thus continued to inquire when Chilled snorted. “Why is it that you must mock me?” the man asked in irritation.

“Yes, you’re on Earth. And it just sounded like you were saying ‘erf’ okay? Now who are you?”

“My…” The stranger seemed to pause and think about his answer before shrugging. “My name is Steven, or Ze, as my friends and family call me, as it is a nickname. I come from the constellation of Aries and I actually am not supposed to be here.” The stranger, now named Ze –Chilled decided to keep it that way- turned his head to examine the room. “I must return home,” he said finally, looking back at the others. “I do not know how, though. This…this gravity is something I have not yet experienced and I do not like it.”

“Well then let me hel-“

“ _Ne me touchez pas!_ ” Ze ordered, backing away from Chilled.

“Was that…French?” The Italian asked in confusion.

“What do you mean French? What is that? I do not know what the French is. _Je veux rentrer chez moi!_ ” Ze whined, frowning.

“I have no idea what you’re saying but you’re welcome to stay here for a while.” Chilled sighed and got up. “We have to move you to the guest room since you burned mine,” he groaned, leaving to see if everything was ready.

 

“Jesus, man, that was crazy. You just set the entire room on fire!” Tom exclaimed with a laugh, hands on his hips.

 

“That was pretty fucking scary,” GaLm admitted, nodding. “Dude you could have killed all of us! Did you do that? You did that, right?”

 

“What?” Ze questioned, unsure of how to answer. He cowered away from them still, fearful of their dominant postures. His eyes then moved to the one who stood back and met eyes, biting his lip as he raised a hand and pointed. “ _Vous, viens ici._ ”

“Huh?” Smarty raised an eyebrow and looked from over GaLm’s shoulder. “You want me to come over?”

Ze simply nodded and waited until Smarty had walked over to hesitantly reach out and touch his face. He was feeling curious, wondering how such a creature looked so similar to that of his own, though without the star specks. He wondered just how alike they were now, in a sense, jumping when a groan was emitted from the doorway and Chilled stood there with an exhausted expression.

 

“Honestly, I’m feeling really tired, I don’t know about you guys. I really want to go to sleep and it’s super fucking late right now.” His eyes returned to Ze and he sighed, walking forward slowly, pointing at himself. “I’m Anthony, that’s Tom, Anthony, and John.”

“Two Anthony’s?”

“Yes, two Anthony’s. You know, you can also call us by our nicknames, except for Tom. He’s just Tom. I’m Chilled, that’s GaLm, and that’s Smarty you’re with.”

“Oh…um…okay.” Ze pursed his lips and understood the exhaustion that he was speaking of and got up, the towel slipping as Smarty grabbed it and retied it around his waist, helping him to the doorway. Ze had started growing a trust for the thick-eye-browed human, though his attention returned to the face he saw first- the curious, mussed hair man. “You…you’re the one that saved me?”

“Saved you?” Chilled asked with a chuckle. “I didn’t really _save_ you. I just brought you here to my home. Well, our home, I guess.”

“Thank you,” Ze mumbled, his cheeks dusting a fair pink as the light around him glowed similar.

“Yeah, no problem. Um, so I’ll show you to where you’re gonna be sleeping…”

“Yes, sleep. That is the regenerating period that humans have?”

“Yeah…uh, anyway, it’s just over here across from my room.” Chilled waved his arm out the door as Smarty helped lead Ze out and into the other room, following the two. “So I guess if you need something you can just call us…I’m gonna go sleep on the couch.” Chilled shrugged as Smarty excused himself and bid goodnight to Ze, the other two following suit and leaving.

The Italian just smiled and took a step when a hand reached for his shirt and he was pulled back.

“W-wait,” Ze whined. “Stay with me? _S'il vous plait?_ ”

Chilled’s eyes widened and he smiled at the newfound trust he was receiving, feeling proud of being trusted and honored in just a short time. “Uh, now that I know. It’s ‘please’ right? I’ll stay with you, sure.” He shuffled his feet awkwardly, knowing that he himself normally slept almost nude and he wasn’t quite comfortable sleeping with some stranger that had confessed to having fallen from the sky who was also pretty much nude.

He sighed and gave in, though, crawling into the bed and watching the other try to figure out how to get under the covers and lay down with a confused look on their face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes…humans are weird. I am not sure how you find this comfortable.”

“Well, you need a pillow,” Chilled said with a chuckle as he reached to him, waiting for the permissible nod from the other as he lifted his head and gently placed the pillow down. “Alright, that should be better, yeah?”

“Oui, much better.”

 

Chilled smiled and got back up to turn off the lights before he crawled back into the bed and turned, gasping in surprise at the faint white glow that radiated from Ze. “Dude, you’re fucking glowing.”

“What? Oh, yes, I am. Is this not normal for humans?”

“No…I don’t know anyone who glows…like…like that.”

“Ah, maybe it is just Stars, then, for you do not have star specks.”

“No, I don’t have star specks…” Chilled stared at him, mesmerized by the calming glow. He could feel himself start to drift off from the warmth and calm light of Ze as his eyes closed. “Good night, Ze.”

“Good…um…”

“That’s what we say when we go to sleep,” the Italian replied with a quiet laugh.

“Oh! Uh, good night! Um…Chilled!” Ze lay there with a pursed smile as he watched the other fall unresponsive and into a sleep as he hesitated, scoot closer to him, the towel unwrapping from his body as he closed the space between them and wrapped his arm over his chest. He smiled to himself and sighed, closing his eyes.

He had many questions for these humans and he would wait until their habituating period was over, for now trying to follow their pattern as he let himself go and fall into a new world of welcoming darkness.

 

 

Morning soon came and Chilled stretched his arm with a yawn, feeling something extremely warm against him, kicking the blanket from his body. His eyes shot open, knowing full well he slept alone and looked down to see a naked Ze pressed fully against him, his arm holding him close like they were married. He swallowed hard, cheeks red as he felt something hard press against his thigh and glanced down with regret, eyes quickly flicking back up to Ze’s peaceful face.

He took a deep breath, remembering and trying to comprehend the fact that this man wasn’t from Earth and was going to need some lessons about living life as a human. The Italian’s attention was focused on the sleeping man beside him, knowing he had questions and answers of his own, waiting until the other would stir.

 

“This is gonna be a _long_ fucking day,” Chilled muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chilled gently lifted his arm from beneath the sleeping man’s head- but to no luck. He was only pulled closer and sighed, looking back at the little white spots on his head. Gingerly, he moved his free arm to touch it and widened his eyes in surprise at the streak of glitter and dust on his fingers, but didn’t seem to rub off the hair. Curiously, he continued, touching each of the white specks before realizing how soft it was. It was almost like touching a sheep’s fluff.

Chilled’s face was one of pure curiosity, eyes wide lips pursed with his fingers carding through the sleeping man’s hair.

 

When he looked down, Ze had stirred- only slightly- his plump lips gently parted in a small smile as if reacting to Chilled’s fingers stroking his hair. Chilled couldn’t help but smile back and continue on.

 

 _He’s kinda cute_ , Chilled thought, turning his body so that Ze could curl up into him, the Italian subconsciously moving a leg over his, hand now massaging the smaller’s head from behind, his arm laying over him. _Warm, soft…I could get used to this. He’s like a stuffed toy._

Chilled’s face turned a faint pink and he stopped thinking for a moment, his hand now paused and resting on the other’s back. He shouldn’t be doing this, but it was just to comfort him, right? It was just because Ze was scared and trusted him…right?

 

Ze had released a content morning moan, pressing further into Chilled’s body, arm now draped over the other’s side as his opened and he smiled up at him. The Italian stuttered on a greeting and Ze had lifted his head slightly, blinking at him.

 

“G-d-z-k? Is that how humans greet each other after their resting period?” he asked, curious.

“Uh-no, I…we usually say ‘good morning’ after we wake up. Um, good morning, Ze,” Chilled said with an awkward chuckle, now realizing just exactly how close they were together. Ze didn’t seem bothered and Chilled didn’t want much to pull away from the warmth, when sudden realization came over him. “You smell fresh as always…”

“Smell? Fresh? _Que veux-tu dire?”_

“You…don’t smell like you’ve just woken up. You smell like you’ve taken a shower already.”

“What is a shower?”

“Oh…boy, okay. Um,” Chilled quickly pulled away from Ze and shook his head as he sat up.

“Did I do something wrong?” the shorter asked with a frown as he sat up, legs tucked together as he glanced to the Italian. “Chilled?”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Here, let me show you what a shower…is…uh…” Chilled made a face, wrinkling his nose as he realized what he was saying. “Follow me,” he said with a sigh and a shake of his head, motioning for him to come while he got up and headed for the bathroom.

 

He went to the sink first and picked up his toothbrush and toothpaste, explaining to Ze what it was for and showing him how he used it. Ze nodded and went to grab for Chilled’s toothbrush when he finished, his hand getting swatted away as Chilled explained that there was one per person.

 

Ze made an “o” with his lips and nodded, watching as Chilled headed for the shower.

 

“Now this is where we strip down out of our clothes and we clean ourselves off.” Chilled looked to Ze and turned away again, trying not to look below his waist. “Anyway, I’ll show you.” He opened the glass door and stepped in, squeaking when he saw Ze follow him in, their bodies close together in the closed space. “W-wait, Ze, you’re not showering with me.”

“I’m not? How do I learn?”

“Just stay outside and watch,” Chilled whined, cheeks a bright red. “Please?”

“Okay, I will.” Ze blinked and followed orders, stepping outside and standing right in front of the door to watch.

 

Chilled sighed and turned the shower on, Ze gasping as the water seemed to magically appear before his eyes. “Woah, how did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That.” Ze pointed to the shower head with the water cascading down to Chilled’s body.

“Oh, uh, there’re these things called pipes which bring water here to my shower and all the sinks and stuff. “

“Cool.” Ze smiled and stood there watching.

 

The taller sighed and started on with his scrubbing, feeling awkward to have someone watch him though he supposed the other didn’t really know what was going on. Throughout the shower, Ze had asked him about all the different things he had to use and Chilled somewhat enjoyed explaining what they were, though he felt like he were talking to a first grader.

 

When he finished cleaning up, the day had potentially been the same as the morning. Having to explain every single little thing in the household that went on and what the guys did. Especially during lunch, when Chilled had tried to teach him how to grill some food, and things in the kitchen got messy.

 

“Oh god, Ze!” Chilled yelled, voice high in pitch as the pan suddenly caught flames and melted to the floor in a liquid plastic form, sizzling on the floor. The food had burnt to a crisp and Ze stood there with a bright red glow of embarrassment, backing away to grab the counter where he’d set the rest of the vegetables to flames.

The fire alarm had gone off again and the other derps wen running around the house, Tom returning with an extinguisher. Chilled coughed and they all went to clear the smoke out, Ze standing in the middle of the kitchen with tears in his eyes.

 

“Ah, Ze, don’t cry, please,” Chilled said as he came back and brought Ze out to the backyard and he rubbed his back. “It’s not your fault.”

“ _Menteur!_ Of course that was my fault!” He sniffled and swiped at his eyes, biting his trembling lip. Chilled sighed and pulled him in for a hug, wincing as heat suddenly pooled around them but kept him close.

“Shhh, shhh…it’s okay…we can still get lunch, okay? It’ll be fine. I know that Tom can make some pretty good soup, are you okay with that?”

“W-what’s soup?” he asked between his sniffs, holding Chilled tight.

“Uhh…it’s like…it’s like flavored water.” He paused and chuckled. “Well, it is flavored water. With like, other things in it to make it taste good and fill you up. I think you’ll like it.”

“Okay,” Ze mumbled in reply, burying his face into Chilled’s chest to rid of his tears.

 

And so the lunch went and Ze thoroughly enjoyed his “flavored water” and they all continued on in the day, making some quarantines to keep Ze out of the kitchen cooking until they found out what to do with him.

 

Towards the evening, Ze could feel something calling to him from the skies. He looked up at the ceiling and bolted from Chilled’s room, running through the halls.

 

“Ze! Ze wait up!” Chilled yelled as he ran after him in his shorts, forgetting his slippers as they ran out to the backyard and out to the start of the woods where they had travelled to watch the stars when they found him just the day before.

 

Ze had come to a stop, raising a hand to stop Chilled where he was standing, the others having caught up, heavily breathing as they asked what was going on. The shorter looked up and stared into the sky, raising his hand as a bright light flashed through the black of the sky and suddenly something bright came flaming down through the air.

“Oh god, not another one. He’s planning something evil, come on, Chilled! We shouldn’t have trusted this guy!” GaLm whined.

“No, wait,” Chilled replied with a patient scowl, covering his eyes as the object suddenly became larger and larger at alarming speed, crashing into the ground where Ze stood. “Ze!” he yelled, reaching a hand out before narrowing his eyes, seeing the form of Ze bent over in the smoke, picking something up. “Ze?”

 

“Look!” Ze said happily as he came bounding out of the smoked crash site without a bit of dirt on him, holding a package in his hands. It was open, some clothes seeming to glow inside. “They sent me a care-package while they figure out how to bring me back home!”

“A care-package? Are those just clothes?”

“Mhm! Look!” Ze grabbed one of the sweaters inside, the color of it dark like the sky above them with stars lined all over, colors swimming around in gradients, constellations outlined in bright white light. It looked like the sky was on a jacket, almost unbelievable. Ze was grinning, bouncing on his toes as he snuggled his clothes and beamed up at Chilled.

 

The Italian chuckled and nodded, still amazed at what material he was seeing. It was very, very extraterrestrial and yet it seemed so normal. He shook his head and saw the others mesmerized by the sight, gasping when they realized that Ze was glowing. Chilled smiled proudly as he turned to them. “Star specks. Cool, huh? He literally lights up my night.”

“Don’t tell us you’re hitting on him, Chilled,” GaLm warned.

“It was a joke, come on,” Chilled said with a wave of his hand. “I can’t have sex with an alien.”

 

“Sex?” Ze inquired. “What’s that?”

“Oh boy…” Chilled sighed as he turned and wrapped an arm around Ze’s shoulders. “You’re gonna be learning a lot while you’re here. For now, let’s focus on the basics. Sex we can talk about later, okay?”

“Um, okay.” Ze looked at him with a shrug and smiled, following him with a bounce back to the house. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Chilled said, half-regretting it. Now he wasn’t sure if he was asking for learning in general or sex, but either way, he’d just claimed responsibility over him. This was going to be a long, long while for him.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was recording day for everyone. But what did that mean for Ze? He wasn’t just going to sit around all day and eventually burn a wall.

 

“Hey Ze?” Smarty called, Ze immediately turning his head up with a smile to see the first human he’d become comfortable with- bushy brows as he liked to call him- appear in the doorway to the room.

“Smarty?”

“Yeah, we’re all gonna be busy today but I was wondering if you wanted to chill with me and the animals?”

“What animals? You have animals?” he asked, excited, bouncing to his feet. “Do you have centaurs and unicorns and flying fish?”

“Uh…no, but we do have a dog and two guinea pigs,” he chuckled out, motioning for him to follow.

 

Ze trotted down the hall with Smarty and saw that GaLm was also inside the room attached to his computer, headphones on while he yelled at the screen. “Is he okay?”

“Him? Oh, yeah, GaLm’s fine. He’s just playing his games and he gets emotional.” Smarty chuckled a little and whistled lightly, Rex standing and walking directly to Ze, sniffing his hands.

Ze’s face lit up- quite literally- and he looked on with childish joy and sat down, legs crossed while he started getting comfortable with the dog and the two soon became the best of friends. Smarty nodded and smiled, watching him for a moment and chuckling.

“You’re adorable,” he mumbled before turning back to his computer to start up the recording when he remembered the guinea pigs. “Oh yeah, there’s these two cute little fellas, too.” He went to the cage and opened it up, allowing Ze to look inside and Smarty paused, watching as the other gingerly picked one up and carefully pet it before kissing its head and placing it down, repeating this process before returning to play with Rex.

 

Smarty rolled his eyes and smiled as he returned to recording on his computer, glancing at Ze now and then to make sure he was doing okay.

 

As hours passed, GaLm had left the room to grab dinner with tom and Smarty had wrapped up and went to edit what recording he had, breaking it down to small segments and turning when he felt a finger poke his shoulder.

 

“Oh! Ah, am I interrupting anything?” Ze asked sheepishly, backing away for a moment.

“No, not at all. You need something, buddy?”

“Ah, no, I just wanted to know if you, too, wanted to play with Rex?”

“Oh.” Smarty looked at the energetic dog whose tail wagged incessantly and smiled, looking back to his editing software. He sighed, turning back to face Ze. “Sorry, Ze, can’t do that right now. I have some more work to do but you know, when I’m done, I can play with you and Rex, okay?”

“Okay! _Je vais t'attendre! Futur proche!”_ Ze went back to rolling around and chasing and throwing around toys with Rex and Smarty couldn’t help but keep that smile on his face as he turned back.

 

He could feel the sudden urge of that distraction pull him from his work and he ended up caving in after thirty minutes, turning to see Ze and Rex laying on the floor together, a ball being passed back and forth between them. Smarty chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. “So uh…can I still join in?”

“Of course, Smarty! _Bien sûr!”_ He sat up and Rex followed, his head turning to Smarty just as he sat down and Rex bounded to him when a green ball came his direction.

 

The three soon were in an epic battle and game of catch and tug-of-war and even monkey in the middle when Chilled’s head popped into the room, a small look of irritation on his face which quickly washed off when he saw Ze turn to look at him with a grin on his face, the dog wrapped under his arm with his tongue happily sticking out, tail still in a wag.

 

“My favorites all in one room and looking cute!” Chilled cooed, laughing.

“Aw, thank you,” Smarty said with a smile as he stood up and leaned back on the headrest of his chair.

“I wasn’t talking about you,” Chilled replied, rolling his eyes as he stepped back a little to catch himself when Ze had launched his body at him for a hug. “Hi?”

 

“Hi Chilled! Would you also like to join us and play with Rex?”

“Uh, you know? I think he might be tired now and need food and water. He hasn’t had a friend like that in a long time. He also might need to pee and stuff. You wanna help me with that instead?”

“Okay!” Ze quickly bounded out of the room with Rex following after him and the Italian turned on his heel to look at Smarty, his finger pointed as if he were to say something before shaking his head.

 

“Never mind…”

“What?” Smarty asked, smirk on his face.

“I…nothing. _I’m_ gonna be _with Ze_ outside with Rex, too, okay? Just if the others ask.”

“Sure.” Smarty chuckled and shook his head, turning back to drop in his chair to finish editing.

“What’s so f- you know what, fuck you.”

“Nothing, lovebird. Now get out there and romance his ass.”

“I’ve only known him for two days!” Chilled complained.

“Yeah but you’ve been the one sleeping with him.”

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“Just go!”

“I will!” Chilled left with a red face, huffing until he found Rex with a fresh bowl of food and water. “Oh…you know where to get it?”

“Um…yeah? I mean the bag was here labeled ‘Rex’s food’ and then I just took water from the sink,” Ze said, mumbling the last part.

“Oh that’s alright. It’s what I do, too. Now let’s let him walk outside for a little, yeah?”

“Mhm!”

 

Chilled attached the leash to Rex and was surprised to see him not pull away as much, probably drained of energy from playing with Ze all day. He chuckled and pat the dog’s head before walking outside on their little hike together.

 

After about fifteen minutes, Chilled could feel the warmth radiating off Ze’s glowing blue sweater, looking at it as they stood together by a hill that overlooked the forest and the house and the rest of the city below. “You know, that’s a super cool jacket.”

“Is it? I’ve had it for a long time, I dunno. I guess it’s alright,” Ze replied with a shrug. His green eyes were cast to the stars, a small, sad smile on his face.

 

Chilled frowned and stepped a little closer, following his gaze as Rex sat between their feet. “Hey uh…are you seriously like, you know, a star?”

“Yeah, I am. I am a Star.” Ze blinked a few times and turned to face Chilled, his green eyes bright.

When Chilled turned to look at him, he stared at the glowing orbs, his own brown ones wide with curiosity as he stared deeper and deeper, catching the swirls of yellow and white, watching as a star seemed to shoot through, galaxies swim around.

“Um, Chilled?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Chilled mumbled, realizing how close he’d leaned in.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mind you being close. But Rex is done, I think.” Ze looked down with a wrinkle of his nose and Chilled whined to see some brown substance on his shoe.

“Rex!” Chilled groaned and grabbed a napkin from his back pocket to wipe it off, looking around with his flashlight only to see a brighter, more well-lit ground because of Ze’s glow and he was able to pick up the residue.

 

He sighed and looked back up at the stars where Ze was once again staring. The Italian went to quickly toss the bag and turned to Ze, smiling. “So…like…if you’re really a star…”

“Let me show you something,” the young Star said, turning to face Chilled. “Give me your hand.”

“Uh, I’m not gonna die or get lit on fire or anything am I?”

“Just give me your hand.”

“Woah are we getting married?” Chilled joked as he held out his hand, palm up.

“What’s getting married?” Ze questioned, his head turned up to him.

“Uh…I’ll explain that later...it’s long and complicated. But anyway what were you gonna show me?”

“Oh yeah!” Ze looked at Chilled’s hand and traced faint lines over it before slowly lifting his own hand up.

Chilled watched as a soft glow appeared, tiny bits of sparkles and dust flying right in front of his eyes, coming from a light in his hand. Then brighter, white specks flew into the air, making patterns that looked like ice and snow swimming in the sky. “Woah,” he breathed out in wonder, eyes wide with admiration, frowning when the light went out. “Do it again!”

“Okay, hold on,” Ze mumbled, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he focused and repeated the process, smiling at the results.

“That’s super cool. I wonder what else you can do! I should tell the others!”

“No! They won’t believe me,” Ze whined.

“Of course they will!”

“No! No! Don’t tell them!”

“They already think you’re kind of, you know, weird.”

“Please, Chilled, I’m begging you,” Ze whimpered.

 

The Italian seemed to ponder on the thought a moment longer before nodding and smiling. “Okay, I won’t tell them. But you gotta tell me more about yourself and the other stars out there, promise?”

“I promise!”

“Good. Now let’s get back to the house. I’m starving!”

“What’s starving?”

“Uh…” Chilled sighed and knew he was going to have a fun fifteen minute walk back to the house as he started to explain what it was to be hungry- or in his case- starving.


	6. Chapter 6

“Alright, Ze,” GaLm started, pointing to a place on the map. “Where is this?”

“Uh…” The young Star hummed, scratching his chin before tapping the table. “Germany.”

“Yep.” The other pulled his phone and showed him a picture of a landscape. “What about this?”

“Hmm….maybe…well that sign is…this is Russia!”

“Correct!” GaLm cheered and gave him a small high-five before handing him a sheet with a few numbers and marks. “You just missed this area here in Brazil, but otherwise, you did superb.”

“Awesome! So that means I get my treat now, right?”

“Yep! Another gold star, just for you.” The Texan turned and had a chart with Ze’s name on it, another gold sticker attached now to the next square to be filled in.

 

It had been a few weeks now of living with Ze. GaLm was the pre-determined best teacher for him and they’d been spending time together in “class sessions” to the point that the others would sometimes find themselves sitting in and catching onto a few things or bugging them for no reason at all.

As it turns out, Ze was also a quick learner, especially when it was visual or physical. He could quickly pick out locations on maps and he was learning English exquisitely well, even catching onto their slurs and slang, though he’d still mix in French now and then.

At least, they called it French. Surprisingly to the Star, the language of his kind was indeed what they called French on Earth.

 

Ze suddenly hugged GaLm as a thank you for the golden sticker and even planted a small kiss on his cheek just as Chilled walked in.

A painfully irked expression fell on the Italian’s face as he watched and GaLm just giggled until he turned and noticed him standing there, gently patting Ze’s shoulder to let him turn around and see.

 

“Ah! Chilly Willy!” the young Star exclaimed, the nickname causing the taller to blush lightly. Ze ran up to him and gave him a hug. _“Avez-vous vu?_ Did you see? I got another star!”

“Yeah, I…” Chilled’s eyes quickly wandered to the wall and back. “…did see that. Congratulations. You’re a smarty pants.” He chuckled and tousled his soft curls of hair.

Ze seemed to beam, quite literally, a soft glow now surrounding him as he kept latched to him before his face became one of confusion. _“Caleçon?_ I am not Smarty’s underwear,” he mumbled in protest.

“What? Oh! No, no, no! That’s not what smarty pants means! It just means you’re really smart.” A grin painted his face and he watched as the shorter stared then nodded in understanding.

“I see! _Je suis malin! Etes-vous intelligent?”_ The Star’s eyes glowed bright towards Chilled who’s lips turned into a smirk.

“You know, they say French is the language of love.”

“Love?”

“Yeah, love, you know, like…uh, _amour?”_

_“A…amour…”_

“Yeah, _amour._ And, uh… _Je t’aime…?”_ Chilled was trying to dig through his head for words he had caught on some French when he had gone there for a gaming event, but was getting distracted a spot around his waist that was starting to burn. “Ah, shit!”

 

The Italian pushed back from Ze and looked down to see black spots on his shirt where imprints of Ze’s arms and face had burned in. Confused, he looked up at the other to see him a bright glowing red and orange, bolting out of the room.

 

“Ze, wait!” Chilled called, confused as to why he had run off, wincing when a door was slammed shut.

“Smooth one,” GaLm said, chuckling and rolling his eyes.

“What?! I was just trying to translate what I meant.”

“Yeah, but you do realize you said that you love him.”

“I- well- I didn’t mean it like…god damn it, I need to talk to him.”

 _“No, no, no, no, no, no.”_ GaLm’s hand quickly shot out to grab his arm. “I don’t want this place burning down. Best you let him cool off, whichever room he went to.”

 _"Fine,”_ Chilled groaned. “But still…”

 

Off in the other room, Smarty’s, to be exact (well, the one he shared with GaLm), Ze was curled up hugging him and Rex and whining and ranting on in French about what had just happened.

Confused, Smarty gently pat his head and fanned him with a few papers he had seen lying around, listening, though he couldn’t understand what he was saying. He at least hoped he was okay.

 

When Ze was finished, he had calmed to a light pink and had released Rex to sit just at his feet as he curled up to Smarty from his spot on the floor, hugging the other who was sitting on the bed and burying his face into his chest.

 

“So…you okay, buddy?”

“No…”

“What happened?” Smarty’s voice was quiet as he talked, rubbing the shorter’s back.

“He told me he loved me.”

“Who?”

“Anthony…”

“Anth…oh, that Anthony. I see. Well, what if he does?”

“He can’t love me! He barely knows me! Besides, you’re all humans. I can’t love you anyway.”

“Well, what if it’s a platonic love? I love you, but platonically. Not romantically.”

“Platonic and romantic?”

“Yep! Come on and sit here, I’ll explain both of them to you.”

 

Ze nodded in agreement and crawled up onto the bed, sitting cross legged as Smarty pulled some more papers and a marker out, scribbling a chart down on it and taking a deep breath as he started to explain the differences between platonic and romantic love.

By the end, he gave him a short double check and a quiz to make sure Ze had understood and smiled when he had gotten them right.

 

“So you and GaLm are romantically in love, right?”

 _“What?”_ Smarty’s face flushed beet red and he stammered, scratching the back of his neck. “Who told you that?”

“I see you two kissing sometimes. You know, the lip kissing?”

“Oh, uh, well…y-yeah…yeah, we’re romantically in love.” He shifted a little, a smile on his face as he glanced to the other bed in the room before looking back at Ze. “Anyway, you should go talk to Chilled, I’m sure he wants to explain what happened.”

 

A soft knock came from the door as Chilled’s voice came in quietly, asking if he could talk to Ze.

 

“Well speak of the devil,” Smarty mumbled before looking at Ze for confirmation to let him in, catching the small nod and calling back to the door. “Come in!”

 

“Ze, look, I’m-“

“Platonically in love with me!” Ze beamed up, pausing when he looked to Chilled to confirm his words, anticipation in the air.

“Uhh…platonic…yeah…” Chilled, relieved to find that somehow Smarty could explain platonic and romantic love to Ze, felt bothered as the words left his mouth. A small frown flashed on his face for a quick second before he focused back at the two cuddled together on the bed. “Platonic,” he repeated again, a bitter taste on his tongue, though he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“Okay! But be careful with your words,” Ze added, slipping up off the bed and pulling Chilled back into a hug.

“Yep, I will. It was a joke, anyway. But um…so, like, it’s uh, dinner time! Let’s go make some dinner.” Chilled hurried his words and hastily pulled back from Ze to slip out of the room and go shut himself in the kitchen where he could probably distract himself with other thoughts that hopefully didn’t involve Ze.

 

Whatever the feeling was, he didn’t like it. He didn’t want this and he didn’t want to think about this. Well, _maybe_ he didn’t want to think about it, but he’d rather not be the one setting fire to himself as they all sat together at the table.

“Fuck me,” he mumbled, gathering some items to cook up some fish. The green scales reflected brightly to him and they only reminded him of Ze’s green eyes staring off into the sky from that one night. His heart skipped a few beats, heat pooling his face and breath softening at the memory, the image printed in his mind.

Growling in irritation, he instead waved the fish in the air and brought it back down to chop. “Get out of my head,” he grumbled, getting to work on what would hopefully be a normal, _or so God help him,_ dinner.


End file.
